next page previous page table of contents home

Let's return to the Arabic manzil structure (according to Wikipedia) for a while:

Manzil Ruling star RA day Begins on Number of days
Sheratan β Arietis 27.4 27.4 17 May (137) 14 14
Pleione 28 Tauri 56.3 28.9 31 May (151) 13 27
1 Albatain 27 Tauri (?) 56.3 0.0 13 June (164) 13 40
2 Al Tuwaibe'
α Tauri
68.2 11.9 26 June (177) 13 53
3 Heka
λ Orionis
83.2 15.0 9 July (190) 13 66
4 Alhena γ Gemini 103.8 20.6 22 July (203) 13 79
5 Murzim β Canis Min. (?) 111.6 7.8 4 Aug (216) 13 92
6 An Nathra ε Cancri 130.4 18.8 17 Aug (229) 13 105
7 Alterf λ Leonis 143.4 13.0 30 Aug (242) 13 118
8 Dschuba γ Leonis 155.5 12.1 12 Sept (255) 13 131
9 Azzubra  δ Leonis 169.2 13.7 25 Sept (268) 13 144
10 Assarfa  β Leonis 178.3 9.1 8 Oct (281) 13 157
11 Auva γ Virginis 191.5 13.2 21 Oct (294) 13 170
12 Simak α Virginis 202.7 11.2 3 Nov (307) 13 183
13 Syrma ι Virginis 215.6 12.9 16 Nov (320) 13 196
14 Az Zubana α Librae 224.2 8.6 29 Nov (333) 13 209
15 Akleel α Corona Borealis 235.7 11.5 12 Dec (346) 13 222
16 Qalb al Akraab Antares 249.1 13.4 25 Dec (359) 9 231
17 Shaula Shaula 265.3 16.2 3 Jan (368) 13 244
18 Al Naam Ascella and Nunki 287.9¹ 22.6 16 Jan (381) 13 257

¹Above I have chosen the RA day for Ascella (287.9) because this star is rising first, with Nunki (288.4) half a day later.

I think the star name 'Corona Borealis' at the Akleel manzil refers to Gemma (α), which in rongorongo rimes rose 236 (= 8 * 29½) days after March 21.

"Bayer said of it [Corona Borealis] Azophi Parma, by which he meant that Al Sufi called it a Shield; but the majority of Arabian astronomers rendered the classical title by Al Iklīl al Shamāliyyah, which degenerated into Acliluschemali and Aclushemali, and appeared with Ulug Beg as plan Iklīl." (Allen)

Ibn 'Arabi had his 17th mansion as Iklil al Jabhah:

16 Al Jubana The Claws
17 Iklil al Jabhah The Crown of the Forehead
18 Al Kalb The Heart
19 Al Shaula The Sting
20 Al Na’am The Ostriches

But he appears to have regarded Corona Borealis as a part of the Libra constellation:

15 Al Ghafr The Cover 0° Libra
16 Al Jubana The Claws 12°51'22" Libra
17 Iklil al Jabhah The Crown of the Forehead 25°42'51" Libra

If his 12°51'22" Libra should refer to α Librae, then we could count from its RA day 224.2 and forward to his star at 25°42'51" in order to see if it coincides with the position of Gemma:

(25.714º - 12.856º) / 360º * 365.25 = 13.0 and 224.2 + 13.0 = 237.2 = 235.7 + 1.5.

I have no star close to 237.2 in my list and Ibn 'Arab may have arranged the distance to be 13.0 days in order to create more order than Mother Nature was able to offer.

Or he may have thought there should be a 'leap day' at his Iklil manzil. According to the Wikipedia structure Sheratan has 14 days, but Ibn 'Arab has only 13 days in his Al Sharatain .

In my list I can see that Gemma and Zuben Elakrab were rising at the same time, which could motivate the insertion of an extra day. The word sharatain means the 'two signs' (viz. the pair of stars Mesarthim and Sheratan).

Zuben Elgenubi  (α Librae) 224.2
Zuben Elakribi (δ Librae) 226.8
 Zuben Hakrabim (ν Librae) 228.3
Zuben Elschemali (β Librae) 230.8
Zuben Elakrab (γ Librae) 235.7
Gemma (α Corona Borealis) 235.7

Counting backwards from Zuben Elakrab (γ Librae) to Zuben Elgenubi  (α Librae) there should be around (235.7 - 224.2) * 360º / 365.25 = ca 11º, not 25.714º. But Ibn 'Arab may have had a far longer Libra constellation than we.

However, this is not the place to further discuss the structure of Ibn 'Arab.